Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

Would this plumbing setup work? To cut down on heat, I am thinking about using a Little Giant 3-MDQX Inline Pump It should get me between 900-1000gph with a 4' head. I have talked to a few people on Reef Central and they think it would be a good pump for my setup. The question Im asking...would this setup work?

It looks good but you don't want that much flow through your refugium. Is there any wat to bypass the fuge with 75% of your flow?

It looks good to me. I am unfamiliar with that pump and I cant tell what size drain you have but I am sure you already have the flow situation worked out. The only thing that would worry me about that setup is that the pump will need to be primed. I have often worried that a power outage may occur while I am not home and the pump will run dry. Again, I am not familiar with the pump and I have never tried to feed a pump from over the waterline like that (maybe it will keep enough water in the pipe to not lose its prime). The only other thing is that your overflow is powering down over the rocks/sand. May cause a little bit of a sandstorm at first. I would either make sure there is a lot of rocks there or possibly put a couple of adapters on the overflow in the sump to redirect the water direction.

Good Luck,
Jeremy

Ask Beaver, he works at Progressive Marine. He'd be the one to ask if I were considering something.

I didn't notice that the first time. The pump will have to be primed every time the power goes out unless you put a check valve in the return line and those are prone to failure and may reduce your return flow. It would be much better to have the sump drilled.

Scott wrote:It looks good but you don't want that much flow through your refugium. Is there any wat to bypass the fuge with 75% of your flow?

Thats a good Idea...To slow down the flow, I could have the return pipe split into a "Y". One side could go directly into the sump, and the other could go down into the Fuge side..but instead of dumping it all at once, I could end the pipe with a spraybar...a pipe with small holes drilled all the way down at random spots. This should create enough backpressure to make the water line rise up to the "Y" and overflow down the Sump return. I have also considered having the tank drilled on the other side as well, for dual overflows. But here I have illustrated the "Y" Split idea.

LoneStar wrote:It looks good to me. I am unfamiliar with that pump and I cant tell what size drain you have but I am sure you already have the flow situation worked out.

The drilled hole is 1 3/4" The pipe I am going to use is 1" PVC

The only thing that would worry me about that setup is that the pump will need to be primed. I have often worried that a power outage may occur while I am not home and the pump will run dry. Again, I am not familiar with the pump and I have never tried to feed a pump from over the waterline like that (maybe it will keep enough water in the pipe to not lose its prime).

I have done a test using clear tubing mocking up that exact situation. Because of the dip, the water remains above the pump at all times keeping it primed.

The only other thing is that your overflow is powering down over the rocks/sand. May cause a little bit of a sandstorm at first. I would either make sure there is a lot of rocks

Yeah I plan on using LOTS of LR and Macro.

I didn't see what your outflow pipe/bulkhead size is, but you are not going to get 900-1000 gph out of anything smaller than 1-1/2". 900gph is 15 gpm which is, for perspective, a five gallon bucketfull every 20 seconds or a one gallon jug every 4 seconds.

Redfish wrote:I didn't see what your outflow pipe/bulkhead size is, but you are not going to get 900-1000 gph out of anything smaller than 1-1/2". 900gph is 15 gpm which is, for perspective, a five gallon bucketfull every 20 seconds or a one gallon jug every 4 seconds.

The hole I have now is 1 3/4" with Bulkhead, its 1 1/2. So pretty much if I want that much flow, I should get a second hole drilled?

If its a 1-1/2" bukhead you are probably alright. Be careful not to let anything clog it up.

Phil

thats why im worried....about only one hole especially if Im running that much flow. is that amount of flow excessive for a 30g? what would be ideal?

Is there going to be a skimmer in the sump?

yeah... Berlin 25-250 with a rio 2100

You only want to run as much flow through your sump as your skimmer can handle. The refugium works even slower.